Intuition
by Iverna
Summary: When Allana is kidnapped, Tenel Ka turns to Jacen and his family for help. A highly AU version of Allana's introduction to the Solo family. Also featuring Jaina, Anakin, Jag, Han, Leia and Chewie! Please R&R!
1. Prologue & Part 1

This was prompted by a comment which FalconFan made in reply to me, on one of her pieces of SW art (go check it out, if you haven't--she's amazing!). Basically, we talked about what a pity it was that Jacen, Tenel Ka and the others couldn't be there when Han and Leia found out about Allana. So, this is a story where exactly that does happen.

**Backstory:**

39 ABY: Allana is kidnapped by the president of a renegade star system who's engaging in more than a few bad dealings and wants to pressure Tenel Ka into a political alliance, preferably via marriage. Needless to say, Tenel Ka doesn't like that idea. What's worse, she can no longer feel Allana in the Force, since the ysalamiri trick is no longer a little-known one. Unable to trust her staff entirely, since they allowed Allana's kidnapping, Tenel Ka turns to the Jedi for help; the Solos, along with Jagged Fel, immediately agree to help her, and use the opportunity to expose the president as a bad guy.

The prologue is before the Bad happens; after that, I'm dumping you right into the action.

I'd like to dedicate this to FalconFan and everyone who's been disappointed by the pit of Darkness and Emo that the Star Wars EU seems to have become!

* * *

**Prologue**

_Jacen Solo ran a hand through his hair and sighed when his fingers got stuck in its tangles. "I just feel bad about not telling them."_

__

Tenel Ka Chume Ta' Djo, Queen Mother of Hapes and ruler of sixty-three worlds, mother of the most perfect little girl that Jacen had ever known, sat barefoot on the ground in a secluded little park that almost managed to look like it wasn't under high-security guard at all times. She nodded that she understood. "I know, Jacen. But I can't take that risk."

"Yeah." He worked on extracting his fingers from his dark curls without ripping too many of them out. His mother had tried to tame his hair for years; lately, she'd started pressing "products" on him, but she'd stopped that when he'd threatened to cut it off.

Sometimes, Jacen almost felt sorry for her. Raised as a princess and always meticulously elegant (even when she didn't seem to be trying), and saddled with a husband who didn't care what he looked like as long as he was comfortable, two sons who weren't overly bothered about appearances either, and a daughter who—well, the closest thing Jaina ever came to makeup was engine grease on her face. Poor Leia.

She'd love Allana._ The thought was unbidden, but inevitable. His little girl was never far from his thoughts, and she was currently in a phase where she adored anything purple and had to have three different hair styles every day. Leia would've loved braiding and styling the coppery-red tresses, and he was pretty sure that Allana would love it as well._

"Jacen." Tenel Ka reached out and placed a hand over his. "We will tell them. We'll tell all of them. But I want to keep her safe first."

He nodded. "I know. I want that, too. I just wish there was another way, that's all." There really was no point in dwelling on that, though. He regarded his daughter, quietly sleeping on the grass nearby, brightened, and grinned at Tenel Ka. "But I'd rather have you both in secret than not at all."

She smiled at that. "I know. And I'm glad."

"You're the only woman I know who thinks like that," Jacen told her. "Who insists that I don't show you any affection in public, or tell my friends and family about you…" He didn't add that he admired her for it. For doing it all on her own, at least on the outside. For being strong enough to stand entirely on her own. He had a funny feeling that she knew it, anyway.

Her smile widened. "We do things backwards, where I'm from."

"Clearly," Jacen nodded. "Kids before marriage and everything."

"Just kids, in fact," Tenel Ka pointed out.

Which was just as well. He'd never really liked the idea of marriage. Of any kind of commitment, in fact. It was different with Allana—she wasn't a commitment, she was love. And the bond he shared with Tenel Ka was—well, they'd experienced so much together, he didn't think it would ever break. They were friends, they were lovers, but those words didn't really come close to conveying the truth behind it all.

He feigned sadness. "Stop ruining my points."

"It's what I do."

"I know." He heaved a dramatic sigh. "You make my life difficult."

"And occasionally pleasant," she agreed.

He leaned over for a kiss. "Occasionally. Maybe."

* * *

**Part 1: Plans**

Missions with a Solo never went as planned. That was the plain and simple truth. There was no point in even trying to get around it. It didn't matter how well you planned, it didn't matter what you planned, it could be something as innocent as a lunch and it wouldn't go as planned.

Not that this was anything like having lunch. Jagged Fel kept a firm grip on his blaster and focussed all his attention on the corridor that he was watching. Behind him, Anakin was busy slicing into the outpost's systems while Jaina, judging by the tapping sounds, was impatient as usual.

"Oh, kriff." Anakin's remark told Jag all he needed to know. This mission was about to deviate from the plan. He kept his attention on the corridor. He didn't sigh. He didn't even ask what had warranted that remark. Jaina would do that for him.

"What?" she demanded, unwittingly proving Jag right. "What, Anakin?"

"She's here," Anakin said, which was rather unhelpful. "Jaina, she's here. Allana Djo."

"What?" Jaina repeated, but this time in a voice that suggested that she'd understood perfectly and just didn't like it. "But Dad and Jacen are—"

Han and Jacen Solo were the other half of the strike team, the half that was supposed to rescue the Hapan princess from the orbital station while Jag, Jaina and Anakin rooted through the president's files in his ground complex and took care of that side of business.

"Reus lied to Karrde," Anakin pressed out. "Sith, I knew this was a bad idea."

Reus was the informant that had given them the plans of the complex. Apparently, he'd made sure that they were just accurate enough to be accepted by Karrde. Jag cursed inwardly. This was exactly why he hated dealing with smugglers and criminals. Too many middle men. Too many—well, smugglers and criminals.

"Where is she?" Jaina asked, and Anakin called up the location. Jag glanced at it. Not too far off.

"Great," Jaina said. "So what do we do? We can't leave her here."

"We split up," Jag said. "You don't need me once we're done here. I'll go get Allana, you two get on with the mission. Anakin, can you get into the surveillance?"

"Sure," the youngest Solo said, brashly confident. "Want me to loop the past ten minutes from that hallway and her room?"

Fast on the uptake, as usual. Jag almost smiled. "Yes."

"That's a bad idea," Jaina said. "What if something happened over the past ten minutes?"

"That's the best we're going to get," Anakin said, tapping away at the controls. "I can't go through all the footage first. We're running low on time, Jaya, we have to move."

Jag cast a glance at his chrono. Eight minutes and fourteen seconds until Leia Solo and Tenel Ka would leave the president's office. Eight minutes and thirty-four seconds until Han and Jacen broke into Allana's cell. Eight minutes and forty-four seconds until Anakin set off the intruder alerts at the other end of the complex. Nine minutes and four seconds until Jag, Jaina and Anakin broke out of the complex in one of the president's speeders.

They couldn't afford to throw off the timing. Lose the timing, you lose the mission.

Jaina sighed. "Are you done?"

"Almost," Anakin replied. Then, eleven seconds later—Jag was still watching the chrono—he said "Right, let's go" and Jag heard them move to join him.

"You have a plan?" Jaina asked softly.

He nodded. "Enough of one to get on with. I'll meet you in the speeder bay at minus-thirty."

She nodded back, and then she stood on her toes to kiss his cheek. "Good luck. I hope you're better at rescuing princesses than Dad is."

Anakin chuckled. "Won't take much. Come on."


	2. Part 2: Rescue

**Part 2: Rescue**

Jag watched them leave, then ducked into the corridor after them and proceeded to where Allana was being held. He didn't like this. In fact, he was pretty sure he hated it. Being forced to split up was never a good sign. Being forced away from the plan was never a good sign. Jaina might call him rigid and she could be right all she wanted that he needed to loosen up, but when it came to missions, rigid was good. You could be vague and flexible when it came to lunches, but missions needed exact coordination.

But then, he hadn't expected this one to go according to plan anyway. It involved five Solos. It was amazing that they'd even started off exactly how they'd meant to.

He didn't encounter anyone until he reached his destination, a small carpeted hallway with two tall, wooden doors leading out of it. Guards were stationed on either side of the left one, looking bored. Nice of them to confirm that he had the right place. How to overcome them was another matter, but at least there were only two. Clearly, they weren't expecting anyone to come for her. If it weren't for Anakin's slicing skills, no one probably would have.

And they weren't expecting her to try an escape, either. Once, Jag would've thought that an obvious assumption. Then he'd met Jaina and shared some childhood stories with her.

But of course, Allana wasn't a Solo. Thanking the Force for small mercies, Jag straightened, holstered his gun, schooled his features into a stern expression, and marched down the hallway.

"Attention!" he snapped, and they straightened almost involuntarily as they turned to look at him. "Has anyone gone into that room in the last fifteen minutes?"

"No," one of the guards said, his hand resting on his blaster. "Who are you?"

"Irven Devrich," Jag said, using an old alias, and pressed the interrogation while he closed the distance between himself and the two guards. "Have you seen anything suspicious? Any servants or cleaners come by?"

"No," the same guard repeated. "Is something wrong?"

"Someone's trying to rescue the princess," Jag ground out. "The Queen Mother's visit is clearly—"

—and with that, he reached the first guard and smashed his fist into the side of the other man's neck. The guard staggered back and fell to the floor. Jag ducked and lunged for the other one, who almost managed to get his weapon free before Jag's foot connected with his stomach. Jag followed it up with a punch to the neck and the second guard went down to join his comrade.

Jag straightened up and nodded. Sparring with Jaina had done him some good, after all.

After making sure that they'd both be out for a while, he retrieved the key card from the second guard, drew his blaster, and opened the door. The scene that he walked into was entirely peaceful; it wasn't a child's nursery, but the room was pleasantly furnished with plush sofas and a low, wooden table in one half, and a fireplace and rocking chairs in the other. Two cages hung from the ceiling, housing the ysalamiri that had prevented Tenel Ka and the others from sensing Allana, the only indication that this room was functioning as a prison of sorts.. Jag couldn't imagine what it must be like to have a constant line open to your child, always aware of how she was doing, and to then have that line severed. It couldn't be pleasant. He knew how worried his mother got if she couldn't get him on the comm.

A red-haired girl was lying on the floor in front of a drawing pad. Seated in an arm chair nearby was a woman with black hair and dusky skin, a higher-ranking employee or family member of the president by the looks of it. Both of them looked up when Jag entered, but only the woman showed any alarm.

"Who are you?" she demanded. "What—"

"Don't try it, ma'am." Jag trained the gun on her. "Get up. Slowly. Keep your hands where I can see them."

"You have no right—"

"I'm well-prepared to shoot," Jag warned her, and she lifted her hands and got to her feet—slowly, like he'd instructed. Eying a small gadget that was lying on the table, nearby, but too far to reach.

"Don't," he said, moving forward. Seconds later, he had retrieved the gadget and pocketed it. "Princess Allana?"

"I'm Allana," the little girl said, looking up at him with calm, grey eyes. Jag didn't know much about kids, but this one seemed more collected and astute than they usually were. "Please don't hurt Navishka."

No fear, just a calm request. She was Tenel Ka's daughter, right enough. Jag kept his blaster on Navishka, but showed the girl a smile. "I won't. I'm here to take you back to your mother, Allana."

"Did she send you?"

"Yes," Jag said.

"What's your name?" the child demanded.

Of course Tenel Ka had taught her daughter to mistrust strangers. They lived on Hapes, after all.

"Jagged Fel," Jag said. "I'm here with your mother's friends, Jaina and Jacen Solo."

"Jacen's here?" Allana bounced to her feet. "What's the name of Mommy's Wookiee friend?"

"Lowbacca," Jag answered.

Allana looked hopeful now. "Are you really going to bring me home, Jagged Fel?"

"Yes," he said. "But you have to be really quiet. And you can call me Jag."

"Okay, Jag," Allana said in a soft voice.

"Go on out into the corridor," Jag said. "Wait outside the door."

The girl nodded and ran outside. "Navishka," Jag said, stepping closer, "I really hate to do this. But you'll raise the alarm as soon as I leave."

She stared at him, wide-eyes. "Don't kill me," she said. "I didn't hurt the girl, I just wanted to—I volunteered to look after her! I don't want to—"

Jag moved so fast that she probably never realised what happened. He hit precisely, a strong blow that knocked her unconscious and would probably lead to a big bruise. He caught her before she hit the floor, deposited her on the sofa, muttered an apology, and put his comlink's ear piece back in place.

"Jag here," he said softly. "I got her."

Anakin's voice came back immediately. "Roger. We're almost done."

Jag confirmed and ran to catch up with Allana.

"Come on, princess," he said. "Let's move."

She trotted along beside him, quiet and serious, until the comlink's ear plug cracked again. "Trouble," Jaina whispered, so softly that he could barely hear. "Group heading your way. Get out of the corridor."

"Roger." Sith, it never was easy. Jag glanced around. He found a door a few meters off, seized Allana's hand, and hurried through it, blaster in hand. It led to a 'fresher, of all things. He hoped fervently that whoever was heading their way wasn't looking for just that.

He shut the door, locked it, and kept hold of Allana's hand. He looked down into her wide-eyed face and put a finger to his lips as outside, footsteps passed. She mirrored the action and grinned, apparently enjoying herself. He wanted to shake his head, but remembered that he'd loved hide-and-seek as a kid, too. At least she wasn't terrified.

Someone tried the door then, grunting when it didn't open. Kriff. This was trouble.

But a memory flashed in his mind as he stood braced against the wall with bated breath, and he acted without thinking. He breathed hard a few times, growled something, and finally spoke up. "Do a guy a favour, man, I'm kinda busy—busy here."

Allana gasped when he spoke, but he looked at her and shook his head. Of course she didn't understand this, she was fiour years old. But if the man had heard her, he'd hopefully assume that she was a great deal older, and likewise "busy".

The guy outside said something that sounded like "Kriff, I ain't ever using this one again", another man laughed, and Jag heard receding footsteps. He breathed a sigh of relief, but it was followed by chagrin. Sith, he was using Solo tactics now. Scoundrel tactics, in fact. He wondered if it were immoral to bribe Allana not to tell anyone.

He waited a few more moments before opening the door and pulling Allana back out with him. She kept a faithful hold of his hand, keeping up with him by a combination of fast walking and running that Wynssa had always used when she'd followed their Dad around. As long as no one started shooting, Jag thought, it was all fine by him.

They made it to the speeder bay without further incident, and Jag pulled Allana into a corner.

"All right," Jag said. Seven seconds until Anakin's alarm was due to go off. "We have to wait here, for Jaina and Anakin. Okay?"

Allana just nodded.

"You're doing really great," Jag told her. "You make a great partner."

She grinned, grey eyes sparkling, and in that moment, she looked more like a Solo than like her mother, despite the conspicuous red hair. That family really had the monopoly on mischievous grins, Jag thought.

Jaina and Anakin arrived five seconds later, and Jaina nodded at him. "Should be—"

Somewhere, an alarm started blaring.

"—now," Anakin finished. And grinned.

They waited another ten seconds to give the guards time to respond to the alarm and get distracted, then Anakin led the way into the speeder bay. There were four guards standing around, looking vaguely confused, hands near their holsters. When they noticed Anakin, they drew and started firing, but by then Anakin already had his lightsaber out. The purple blade wove intricate patterns through the air and deflected the shots through the bay.

"Jag!" Jaina ignited her own lightsaber, a different shade of purple than Anakin's—but Jag never knew the proper terms for different shades of the same colours—and gestured at one of the speeders. Jag nodded and lifted Allana off the ground, shielding her with his body as he ran for the speeder. Anakin and Jaina wove a shield between them and the guards, years of practice and experience showing as nothing got through. Jag shot the speeder's door lock, deposited Allana in the back seat, and jumped behind the controls. He was about to hotwire them when he realised that the key was in the ignition.

"Let's go!" he yelled as the repulsorlifts hummed to life.

Seconds later, Jaina and Anakin had jumped in and Jag was piloting the speeder smoothly out of the bay. Shots glanced off the hull, but Jag poured on speed, and moments later they were out of reach.

"That went better than I thought it would," Jaina remarked.

"Don't jinx it, please," Jag said. In the back, Anakin was fastening Allana's crash restraints. Jag glanced past him. No sign of pursuit yet.

"Chewie," Jaina said into her palm comlink. "You on the way?"

A faint roar answered her. Jag didn't speak Shyriiwook, but judging by Jaina's nod and lack of worry, it was affirmative.

"Jag's driving," Jaina added. "So make sure to have it perfect, or you'll never hear the end of it."

The corner of Jag's mouth quirked. "Better than perfect, please," he said as another roar echoed out of the comlink.

Jaina laughed. "Now let's not get cocky, flyboy."

Moments later, exactly at the point where Jag had expected it, the _Millennium Falcon_ swooped down from the sky, cargo bay doors open. Jag concentrated on the controls. This was one of very few manoeuvres he'd never done before. Scoundrel tactics again.

"Hang on," he said as the _Falcon_ came closer at terrifying speed. "I hope we fit. Everyone duck."

In the back, Anakin put his arm over Allana, the better to protect her. Jag ducked down in his seat as much as he dared. Then he slammed on the brakes and reversed thrust, coaxing as much speed as he could out of the little speeder.

And then the_ Falcon_ was all around them, the cargo bay swallowed them, and its far wall was coming up far too fast. Jag remained calm as Allana shrieked, the first sound of fear that he'd heard from her, stayed on the accelerator, kept the speeder moving backwards even as, relative to the _Falcon_, it sped forwards—

—and then they slowed, first marginally, then noticeably, until the speeder bumped into the wall with barely a sound and Jag hit the brakes and killed thrust. The speeder settled down, sedately, just like it was supposed to. Jag let out a breath. His arms were shaking slightly.

"Well," Jaina said. "That couldn't have gone any better. You okay back there?"

"Fine," Anakin said.

"Yeah, fine," Allana echoed, sounding like she was back to normal. "What a ride!"

"Glad you liked it, kiddo," Jag commented wryly as he finally let go of the controls and got out of the speeder.

Jaina jumped out on the other side and lifted Allana out. "I'm Jaina," she said. "Welcome aboard the _Millennium Falcon_, Allana."


	3. Part 3: Laserbrained Plans

**Laser-brained Plans**

"She ain't here," Han repeated. The look on Jacen's face scared him. His son looked desperate, even afraid. The cell that Artoo told them to break into hadn't been guarded, nor was it occupied. Neither were the other five. The cell bay was eerily quiet.

Split seconds later, the look was gone, and Jacen's mouth was set in a firm line. He touched his comlink. "Can you access the surveillance again, Artoo?"

The little droid seemed to have caught the mood that had settled over the young man; he gave a solemn-sounding affirmative. Han had always found it ironic that Artoo, a pilot's aid for flying a ship, possessed a hundred times more subtlety and tact than Threepio, who was supposedly programmed for it. And it wasn't like Threepio was better at flying a ship in return, either.

"Check the station for any sign of her, please," Jacen said, his voice calm and controlled. "Or any sign of ysalamiri. Or guards. Anything that might imply a prisoner, all right?"

Beep, tweetle. The search didn't take long—he was a droid, after all—and when Artoo came back on the line, he almost sounded like he was sorry.

It seemed to reaffirm Jacen's own conclusion, though, and Han hadn't really expected a positive either. It wasn't a big station; it was privately-owned after all. True, Allana was only one little girl, but it wasn't likely that they'd have locked her up in one of the control rooms.

"Reus lied," Jacen said. It was a calm statement, but Han heard something behind it. Something that he sometimes heard in Leia's voice when someone had done something unforgivable. It was the worst kind of threat his wife could utter, that kind of calm acknowledgement of facts.

"Yeah." Han grimaced. He didn't particularly want to face Tenel Ka empty-handed. He could put himself into her position all too well. If it were _his_ little girl that had disappeared…

"_Stang_!" Jacen bit out suddenly, his left hand gripping the hilt of his blaster and his right clenching around his lightsaber. "Of all the—when I get my hands on that lowlife—"

That was a reaction that Han understood better than the Leia-like calmness, but that also meant that it was probably a bad idea.

"Whoah," he said, "hang on, Junior. Can you wait till we're out of here before you go crazy and blast everything? It's not a good strategy for getting off an enemy space station, trust me."

It took a second, but then the corner of Jacen's mouth twitched in response to Han's attempt at humour. "That's right, I forgot you were an expert at this. Now what?"

"Now we get out," Han said. "Nothing we can do. Let's hope the others got what they needed."

It had gone well so far. They hadn't encountered a single person. It made Han uneasy, but that was the advantage of having Jedi kids along.

The disadvantage was that you couldn't actually _stop_ them from coming along on missions like this. Briefly, he wondered how Jaina and Anakin were doing. At his end of things, this whole thing felt bizarre. They'd broken into all of the six cells after the first one had proved empty, and while Jacen had assured Han that it wouldn't set off any alarms, the fact that they were still alone felt really strange.

Not to mention that they'd budgeted a lot more time for this whole endeavour.

"It doesn't matter, does it?" Jacen said. "Allana was the whole point why we came here. The files aren't that important. Mainly just distractions in case this goes wrong."

"Well, it's gone wrong," Han said as they made their way back out of the cell bay. "Just not like we thought it would."

"Yeah." Jacen fell silent then.

Han felt completely ridiculously sneaking back off the station the same way that he'd sneaked in, without having done anything. He almost felt like stealing a comlink, or a gun, or some random piece of junk, just so he had a reason for having come here.

But he didn't. His son stayed beside him, his face a mask of calm determination, with real anger lurking beneath it. Jacen rarely got angry. Jacen rarely took things seriously enough to get angry. Usually, he was relaxed, and just did the job. Of all his kids, Han thought, Jacen was the easiest to get along with.

But then, he and Tenel Ka had always been close. He was the only one of them who'd actually met her kid, in fact. Of course he cared.

They collected Artoo and waited out the time that they should've used to rescue Allana in a small control room. There was no point in going for the shuttle yet. It was a drone ship, programmed to take off at specific times. Anakin had fudged the programming, but they were early, and it wouldn't help if they set off alarms with enough time for someone to actually react to them.

Eventually, Jacen spoke. "Hey, Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"How'm I going to explain this to her?"

Han didn't need to ask who "her" referred to. "She doesn't know already?"

Jacen shook his head, offered half a smile. "I'm keeping a lid on it. But she'll know when the time's up. And she's gonna want to know why—" He trailed off.

"Nothing we can do," Han told him. "She ain't here. That's all we can tell Tenel Ka, too."

Jacen tugged at a strand of his hair. It was tousled worse than usual, owing to the amount of times he'd run his hands through it. A stray lock kept dangling into his face. "Kriff."

"Yeah." Han sighed. He hated this. Hated leaving empty-handed, even though he knew perfectly well that Allana simply wasn't _here_ for him for leave with. "Don't worry, Jace, she's gotta be somewhere."

"Yeah. Somewhere." Jacen exhaled and clenched his fists. "It's frustrating. She's just _gone_. You know?"

"I know," Han said. And then, in an attempt at some levity, "I'm father to two kids whose specialty was to just be _gone_, you know."

Something passed over Jacen's face then, something that looked almost like guilt. "Yeah," he said. "'least Mom could always find us in the Force."

Han made a face. It had to be worrying, when you could sense your kid's presence in the Force all the time, to have that link cut. He understood that, he really did. But at least they had it to begin with. For him, the twins had been effectively _gone_ the minute they'd left his sight.

Jacen seemed to guess his thoughts. "And intuition, right?" he added. "I mean, even without the Force, you'd know if—"

"Your mother would." Han nodded. He'd never been much of a "listen to your feelings" type. But Leia had always had that uncanny ability to tell when the kids were up to no good or in trouble, even without the Force.

Jacen lifted his chin slightly. "Tenel Ka says she's okay. She's out there somewhere. So we'll find her."

"We'll find her," Han agreed. It was important to Jacen, even if Han didn't fully understand why. It didn't matter. They'd go and look for the girl until they found her.

They lapsed into silence as Han watched another minute vanish from the counter on his chrono display.

And then, suddenly, Jacen's features relaxed and broke into a radiant smile. "There she is."

Han frowned at him. "What?"

"Allana," Jacen said, looking impossibly relieved now and still smiling. "Jag has her. It's all right."

"How the—" Han interrupted himself. Jagged Fel had a nasty habit of doing the impossible. It didn't mean that Han wanted to hear about it every time. "Doesn't matter. Score one for Fel. How're they doing?"

Jacen grinned. "Feels like it's all going according to plan. Well, generally." Only now did Han realise how tense Jacen really had been. He really had worried about the kid. Han hadn't much liked the idea of Allana kidnapped either, but it had been mostly due to his own kids' friendship with Tenel Ka, and the fact that he hated it when people involved kids in their power games. His own three had been taken from him far too often.

But for Jacen, it had clearly been a lot more personal. Not that it mattered much now.

Han grinned back at his son, and got up. "C'mon. Time we caught our ride down."

Jacen rose as well, and Han was about to follow him out of the control room when his son jumped back, shoving Han backwards and hitting the door control. Seconds later, he heard the unmistakable sound of blaster fire on the other side of the door.

"Oh, for—" Han drew his blaster. "Why'd they wait until now?"

"No idea," Jacen pressed out, his hand still on the door controls, a concentrated look on his face. Jacen wasn't terribly good with technology, but there was some Force trick of Anakin's that would freeze the controls, and as far as Han knew, even Jacen could pull that one off. "Waiting for us to make a move, I guess. Why didn't I—Artoo! Come here, plug into the computer, see if you can tell what's going on."

"Shuttle's leaving in twenty seconds," Han said, keeping an eye on the chrono. Someone was yelling for them to open the door, a request that he decided to ignore.

"I know," Jacen said, "I know! There are six of them out there, probably more waiting along the way."

"Why do things never go according to plan?" Han asked. Whatever Jacen had done to the door controls seemed to be working; the word "opening" flashed up on the little display repeatedly, but nothing happened. Han turned towards the control station, blaster still in hand. Artoo had already trundled over and plugged in, his job clear.

"Look on the bright side," Jacen added, "least Allana's not here to get shot at."

"I'm here to get shot at," Han said. "I don't _like_ being shot at." He was in that position far too often, in fact. But at least Jacen no longer looked like he was attending his own funeral. "We're not going to make the shuttle."

Jacen glanced at a screen. "No. Artoo says the whole station's on alert," he said. "I'm betting that Reus tipped them off."

"You think it was a trap?"

"I didn't sense a trap," Jacen said. "Neither did Jaina or Anakin." Han was willing to bet that his omission of Tenel Ka owed to the fact that the Queen Mother had probably not been in the best situation to clear her mind and search her feelings.

"So what do we do?"

"Yell at the guards," Jacen said. Han thought he was joking, but Jacen looked at him expectantly until he shouted, "What the hell do you want?"

"Open the door!" someone yelled back. "Come out with your hands up!"

"I don't like doing that!" Han shouted while Jacen bent down to whisper at Artoo. "I'm embarrassed about my hands, I don't wanna show them off like that!"

Jacen grinned, then nodded at him. "All right. Artoo?"

Artoo bleeped, then began emitting a loud electronic wail. Han almost dropped his blaster and made a face. Jacen ignited his lightsaber, which seemed to make hardly any noise beneath the horror that was coming out of Artoo.

"What's going on in there?" the guard demanded.

"I don't know!" Han yelled back, and really didn't. "The computer's acting funny! What kind of equipment d'you have in here, Clone Wars era?"

Jacen had begun cutting into the floor, angling outwards, and now, Artoo's cover-up sounds made more sense. It was a thick floor. It was going to take a while to cut through. And the unmistakable hum/hiss of a lightsaber was sure to alert anyone to Jacen's laser-brained plan.

Laser-brained, but workable. They were in a space station. Laser-brained plans were probably the best, at least in Han's experience.

Jacen took less than a minute to finish cutting, at which point the plug should've dropped, but nothing happened. Jacen switched off his lightsaber, and Artoo stopped wailing. Han's ears rang.

"Finally," he called to the guards outside. "About time you got that switched off!"

"The plug'll fall once we jump on it," Jacen whispered. "Then I'll get Artoo."

Han nodded and continued shouting to the guards. "All right! Don't shoot! We're coming out. Hands up and everything."

Not much, but it might buy some more time. The guard's reply was lost as Jacen tugged at Han's arm, and they jumped onto the plug. It fell straight down, but Jacen must've slowed their descent with the Force, because even though Han was ready for the impact and rolled, his body didn't complain nearly as much as it should've. Moments later, Jacen had Artoo with them.

"Lead the way," Jacen told the little droid. "Come on."

Artoo led them down two corridors that were, thankfully, devoid of guards. Han stayed close to Jacen. "All right, Jace, what's the thinking here?"

"Artoo's got a set of schematics, remember? There should a lift a bit further on," Jacen said. "And that should lead us pretty directly to the main shuttle bay. We sneak past the guards, steal a shuttle, home free."

"Lot of 'should's," Han commented. "This is ridiculous. We haven't even done anything, besides sneak on."

"They know why we're here," Jacen said. "I'm betting that Reus gave them a call."

"Then what about—"

"The others got out already," Jacen said. "Don't worry. But if they connect us to Tenel Ka and figure out who we are, this is going to get ten times worse. It's not about trespassing."

"I figured that," Han said. Jacen was right. If they knew that Han and Jacen were working on behalf of Tenel Ka to rescue Allana, they were not going to simply let them off with a warning. No, they'd be incarcerated until someone figured out what to do with them. Preferably something involving putting more pressure on Tenel Ka. All the more when they realised that their captives were Han and Jacen Solo, with obvious political ties of their own.

"The lengths that people will go to for marriage," Han commented. "I don't get it."

Jacen flashed a wide grin. "Me neither. Especially this guy. She doesn't love him, or even like him, and now he's taken her daughter. I wouldn't dare even go onto the same planet as her if I'd done that, never mind try to marry her."

Han could only agree. Tenel Ka was not the sort of person you crossed lightly. In fact, she wasn't the sort of person you crossed at all. She might not be much for emotions, but he didn't figure it would help you much if she didn't look angry while she killed you.

"All right, this should be it," Jacen said as they rounded a corner. Right enough, there was the lift, and it wasn't even guarded. Han touched the controls and joined Jacen and Artoo inside.

"Lax security," Han commented while the lift hummed upwards. "I was expecting more guards. I thought you said the whole station was on alert."

"It is," Jacen said. "I guess they don't have that many men. Or they've got them guarding the important stuff, which is what I'd have them do."

"Huh." He still didn't like it. Life was a lot simpler when you could see your enemy and charge straight at them, yelling loudly.

Then again, _simpler_ didn't always translate to _longer_, so maybe he'd been right to stop doing that.

The lift took them up one level and dumped them at the end of another corridor. Jacen went out first, lightsaber in hand. The green blade's low thrumming was the only sound.

Until they got to the end of that corridor, and blaster fire suddenly rang through the air again. Most of it ran into Jacen's blade; some of it ricocheted off the walls or shot past them down the corridor. Han thought he heard the lift controls fry. Behind the guards—he thought there were six of them—he could see the entrance to the shuttle bay.

"Surrender, Jedi!" someone called, but there was fear in the man's voice. Han guessed that up until now, they hadn't figured out who their intruders were. Hadn't realised that they were actually dealing with a Jedi.

Just as well that Karrde hadn't seen fit to bother Reus with that detail.

"What a good idea!" Jacen yelled back. "I'll be sure to come back and do that sometime!"

He left cover then, and ran at the guards with his blade still spinning through the air. Han hung back, giving him cover fire and dropping two of the guards before Jacen even reached them. He felt kind of bad about that, but he hadn't set his blaster to full power. Unless he hit someone's head or vital organs, they should be okay.

He kept firing anyway, because they were shooting to kill, and he'd rather hurt them than let them hurt Jacen. Your kids came first, that was a universal law.

Jacen disarmed the guards with a precision that impressed Han and convinced their enemies to stop fighting. Han could understand them. When your weapon was half the size that it used to be and doing nothing but emit pathetic fizzling sounds, and your enemy still had a working lightsaber, continuing the fight was a pretty stupid idea.

Jacen gestured for Han to follow; Artoo had difficulty navigating past the guards, so Jacen held out a hand briefly and made the little droid float over to join him. Artoo gave an electronic sigh of relief when his treads touched the floor again.

"Let's go," Jacen said.

The shuttle bay was mostly empty, except for two guards and a small flier that Han recognised by the stubby little wannabe wings on either side of it. A Triton Azure. A commercial craft, the type that rich kids got for their eighteenth birthday or joyrode around in. He sighed. He hated those things.

"Can you fly that?" Jacen asked.

Han gave him an arch look. "Sorry, what? I didn't hear that question, Junior."

Jacen grinned and feigned a wince. "Sorry."

The two guards had drawn their blasters, but weren't firing at them. Jacen walked over to them, lightsaber still at the ready.

"We're taking this shuttle," he informed them. "You try to stop us, you'll get hurt. You let us go, you won't. You choose. Oh, and by the way," he grinned, "we hacked into the surveillance, so nobody will know."

"Jedi," one of them said. Under his helmet, he had dark skin and bright, intelligent eyes. "Oh, man, no one said anything about a Jedi." He holstered his weapon and folded his arms. "Take what you want. It ain't mine."

His companion, a pale man with red spots on his cheeks who couldn't have been older than Valin Horn, nodded. "Yeah. Take it. Jedi can do mind control, right? No one can expect us to withstand that."

Jacen smiled at them. "Exactly. Thank you, gentlemen. Do you have the access codes to the shuttle?"

They both shook their heads, and Han didn't need to be a Jedi to figure that they were telling the truth. Jacen sighed. "Shame. Dad?"

"Gotcha." Han crossed over to the shuttle and got to work on the code panel. It wasn't hard to hotwire a Triton; he'd been twelve years old when he'd done it for the first time. Anakin had been seven. But Anakin hadn't been allowed to fly it afterwards, because Chewbacca had caught up with him by then.

With Artoo's help, it took him exactly one minute and seventeen seconds to get the shuttle open. By that time, Jacen had struck up a conversation with the guards and they were laughing about something, and Han shook his head. People almost always liked Jacen. He definitely took after Leia in that regard.

"Jacen!" he called. "Quit making friends and let's get going."

"That was quick," Jacen commented. He nodded to the guards. "Nice meeting you. See you later."

They actually waved at him.

"Come on, son, strap in," Han said, powering up the shuttle. "And hang onto Artoo or something."

"Yessir."

Jacen settled into the seat beside him, and Han hit the thrusters. They left the station behind without further incident; once they were in clear space again, Han let out a sigh. "Home free."

Jacen was already on the comm. "Chewie? This is Jacen. Had a little trouble, but we're on our way."


	4. Part 4: Family

Queen Mother Tenel Ka Chume Ta' Djo dropped to her knees at the top of the _Falcon_'s ramp, and a beaming Allana launched herself into her mother's arms. "Mommy!"

"Hi sweetie." Tenel Ka held Allana close while Leia, smiling without even trying to, hit the control to lift up the ramp. Tenel Ka had never been given to displays of emotion, especially not in public, but Leia could completely understand her actions now. And the _Falcon_ was hardly "in public", anyway.

Leia had never seen so much as a holo of Allana, and she couldn't see much of her now, buried as she was in Tenel Ka's arms. But her resemblance to her mother was undeniable—although, Leia remembered, red hair was hardly rare among the Hapan aristocracy. Perhaps the child resembled her father, too. Looking at her felt strange, though, an odd mixture of déja vu and a sense of double vision. The girl's presence shone in the Force, but it was distracting in a way that Leia couldn't quite identify. Familiar, in several ways, but it was like looking at two different pictures that had been superimposed on each other, badly, in a way that didn't fit at all.

She was missing something. But now wasn't the time to dwell on it. She shut the presence out, although looking at the child still felt odd. Shaking the feeling away, she hit the intercom button beside the ramp.

"We're aboard," she called. "Chewie?"

But it wasn't Chewie who answered. "Welcome back, sweetheart," Han replied. "All aboard. Everyone go strap in, we're taking off as soon as we're done with preflights."

So apparently, the others had only just beaten them in getting here. Not quite according to the time plan as Leia remembered it.

She made her way into the hold and smiled to see Anakin and Jaina already there, safe and sound. She squeezed onto the couch between them, tousled Jaina's hair and leaned her head against Anakin's shoulder.

"Where's Jacen?" she asked.

"Cockpit with Dad," Jaina said. "To make room for Tenel and Allana down here."

"Anyone hurt?" Leia asked, and could hardly believe the answer. "The plan worked?"

"Almost." It was Jag who replied, seated at the control station in the hold. "With some minor changes."

"Jag got to rescue a princess," Jaina said, grinning. "He was _thrilled_."

"Jag was not _thrilled_," the dark-haired young man replied, deadpan. "Jag doesn't like it when plans change."

Jaina just kept grinning at him. Leia smiled. She could never quite keep up with what the current status of their relationship was, but it was pretty clear that neither Jaina nor Jag were going anywhere at this stage. Their bond fairly glowed in the Force, despite Jag's lack of Force potential.

"Why did Jag rescue a princess?" Leia asked. Han and Jacen had been in charge of that, she was sure on that point.

"The plan worked fine," Anakin clarified. "But it turns out that Allana was in the complex, not on the station. We had to improvise."

Leia frowned up at her son. "But Karrde—"

"Jacen reckons that Reus fed us some false intel," Anakin said.

"I'm inclined to agree with him," Jag added, his face expressionless. Leia smiled at him; the man was drier than Tatooine's deserts, but she was used to him by now, and the Force helped some.

"But you still managed," she said.

Jag nodded. "Like Anakin said, we improvised. It worked."

"Probably for the better," Anakin said. "Given Dad's track record with rescues."

Leia laughed and nestled into his shoulder. "It's always worked out okay so far. So what did Han and Jacen do, if Allana wasn't in the station?"

"Panic," Jaina said, shrugging. "Nah. But they missed their shuttle. Got shot at."

Leia looked at her daughter. "But they're okay?"

Jaina waved the question away. "Fine, fine. No one's injured, except maybe Dad's ego."

"That's a new one," Leia said wryly. "Why this time?"

Jaina grinned. "They had to steal a Triton. He showed up here in a Triton Azure. We laughed at him."

Leia wasn't entirely sure what a Triton Azure was, although she'd heard of the brand name. Evidently, it was embarrassing and gave the kids a reason to give their Dad some abuse for a while. No harm done. "Where is it now, then?"

"We dumped it," Anakin said.

"Dad wanted to give it to Jag," Jaina said. "I told him it's rude to decline a gift, but he wouldn't listen."

"Only because I didn't want to take up so much cargo space here," Jag said. "And it's the thought that counts, anyway."

The _Falcon_'s engines thrummed to life, and Tenel Ka entered the hold, Allana balanced on her hip. She sat down beside Jaina and strapped Allana in between them.

"Mommy, guess who's flying the ship?" Allana asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "It's Han Solo and Chewbacca!"

Tenel Ka smiled. "That's good to know," she said. "They're very good pilots."

"I know," Allana said. "Mommy, why's the seat vibrating?"

"Because we're taking off, sweetie," Tenel Ka said. "The _Falcon_ does that when it's flying up through the atmosphere."

"Does it do it in space as well?"

"No."

"Good, because otherwise it'd be really hard to sit still, wouldn't it?" Allana giggled. "Can I see the hyperspace later?"

"You'll have to ask the captain," Tenel Ka told her. Leia could already guess the answer to that one—she highly doubted that Han would deny the girl anything remotely reasonable—but stayed silent.

"Oh. Is the hyperspace different over this planet?"

Leia smiled. The girl was full of questions, just like the twins had been at that age. Anakin had usually investigated the answers himself, of course, which had resulted in a thousand narrowly-avoided disasters and a few miracles over the years.

"We're being asked to turn back," Han's voice came over the intercom. That wasn't overly surprising, but not overly threatening either. They were bound to know that Tenel Ka was on board. They weren't going to risk shooting. Han continued, "Everyone in favour say "I"."

"Abstain!" Allana yelled eagerly, to general laughter.

"Oh, wait, now we're being _told_ to turn back," Han said, leaving the line open. "Jacen, can't you talk to them?"

"Sure," Jacen's voice sounded from the background. "I'll just explain to them that we're very sorry to have ruined the president's plans, but it serves him right. Just fly, will you?"

"Sorry, control," Han said, clearly just playing to his audience—mainly Allana, Leia was guessing—now. "We put it to a vote, but everyone abstained. Give us some time to re-poll, please."

Jaina and Anakin groaned, but Allana giggled. "The captain's funny!"

Leia couldn't make out the reply from control, but Han came over loud and clear. "Sorry, no can do. The evils of democracy, I'm afraid. See ya."

Seconds later, the _Falcon_ shuddered slightly, signalling the jump to lightspeed. Leia unbuckled her crash webbing. "Well," she said. "That was a success."

Han came swaggering into the hold moments later, grinning widely. He bowed to Tenel Ka. "Next stop, Hapes. Welcome aboard."

"Thank you, Han," Tenel Ka said as Jacen and Chewie joined everyone else in the hold. "Thank you, everyone, for your help. I—just, thank you."

"Of course," Leia said, smiling. Jacen's arrival had brought back the strange feeling that had spread through her chest when she'd laid eyes on Allana. She still couldn't put her finger on it, not even remotely. He clearly wasn't hurt, though, which was a relief.

"After all the times you saved our kids from mischief, it was about time we repaid the favour," Han added, winking.

"_Some_ of your kids," Anakin qualified.

"Yeah," Jaina said. "There was no saving Anakin from it. No way."

Jacen laughed as Anakin gave Jaina a betrayed look. Jaina grinned at him, then turned to Jag. "There's just one thing," she said, "that I'm curious about."

Jag raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

"Yes. What in the nine hells was that sound you were making earlier?"

"What sound?"

"You were _growling_," Jaina said. "Right after we warned you about the group coming your way."

Beneath the calm exterior that Jag always carried, Leia could've sworn that the pilot was at least a little embarrassed. "Ah," he said. "I was—well, we hid in a 'fresher."

"Yeah," Allana piped up. "We hid in the refresher and then someone wanted to use it, and Jag asked him to do him a favour and to go away because he was busy."

"What," Anakin asked, "can you do mind tricks now?"

"No," Jag said. "I didn't use mind tricks, I used—ah, implication."

Jaina seemed to figure it out after a few moments of studying Jag's expression, and burst into laughter. "Oh," she said, "oh, you—you _scoundrel_!"

That last sounded almost gleeful. Judging by his expression, Han got it then, as well, and Leia understood a moment afterwards. Implication, indeed. Moments later, Anakin and Jacen were grinning, too.

"Using scoundrel tactics now?" Han asked. "Maybe you'll make a real Corellian after all."

"It was the simplest way," Jag started to explain, but Jaina cut him off.

"It usually is," she said. "It's okay, you're in the right company. We're all very proud."

"Thank you for that dubious compliment," Jag deadpanned, and Han shook a warning finger at him.

"Mommy, I don't get it," Allana whispered loudly.

Jacen arched an eyebrow and looked down at her. "Good."

The odd feeling in Leia's chest expanded. She still couldn't seem to focus on the girl.

"There's nothing to get, sweetie," Tenel Ka said. "Now. Have you been introduced to everyone?"

"Yes." Allana nodded. "That's Han, and that's Chewbacca, and that's Jaina and Jag and Anakin and—" her eyes came to rest on Leia. "Uhm, no."

"This is Princess Leia," Tenel Ka said.

Allana smiled up at Leia. "Hello. I'm Allana. I'm a princess too."

And then Leia looked at her, properly, for the first time. Her eyes were grey, a calm grey like that of Tenel Ka's own eyes. She had Tenel Ka's fiery red hair, and fair skin, and delicate beauty, and she had Tenel Ka's easy grace. But her grin, her lively curiosity, and the open trust with which she looked at Leia, the trust and the spark in those eyes—

She smiled through her confusion, looked down at Allana, and said, "It's nice to meet you, Allana."

And then she looked up, and into Jacen's eyes, and finally knew where the familiarity came from. The revelation fell over her in waves, filling her up with the answer she'd been missing, and it felt like that time when Han had emerged from the carbonite and her world had made sense again. The superimposed pictures fit with a suddenness that almost cost her her balance.

"Mom?" That was Anakin, who now laid a hand on her shoulder, sensing the uproar inside her.

"Jacen," she said, "Jacen."

She looked at her oldest son and saw the confirmation in his face, even though he never said a word. Allana, meanwhile, was looking up at her, wide-eyed, seeming worried. "What's wrong?" she asked.

Leia fought back tears, hunkered down on the floor, reached out a hand to rest it on Allana's shoulder. When she touched her, the feeling became rock solid, and she _knew_. "Jacen's your daddy, isn't he?"

Allana hesisted, and then she nodded, smiling, happy. "Yes." And then, whether it was the Force, or Leia's expression, or simply a child's intuition, she asked, "Are you his mommy?"

Leia smiled back at her. "Yes." She pulled the girl into a hug. "I'm your grandmother."

She stood up and lifted Allana into her arms. Chewie growled a soft question.

She became aware that everyone else was staring at them, at her, and looked up at Han. He wore that incredulous expression that he did so well, but when no one contradicted what had just happened, his face broke into a smile and he came over to put a hand on Allana's shoulder. "Hi, sweetie. I'm your grandfather."

Allana looked at him, seeming to accept that without question, and grinned. It was _his_ grin, so obvious now that Leia wondered why she hadn't known it straight away. "That's really stellar," she said. "Does that mean you'll let me look at the hyperspace?"

"All you like," Han promised. One of Leia's tears escaped and rolled down her cheek.

"Whoah." That from Anakin, who still stood near Leia and was now looking at his brother with eyebrows almost up at his hairline. "Jacen! Is that—?"

Jacen looked like he was trying to decide whether to grin or to hide. In the end, it was Tenel Ka who answered. "Yes. Jacen's the father." She sounded cautious. Leia suddenly realised what she'd done: uncovered the secret that the two of them had kept for over five years, and in front of an audience to boot.

"Jacen!" Jaina had been watching, rooted to the spot, speechless. Now she cuffed her twin on the arm. "You're her father? You have a little girl? I'm—oh, Sith, I'm an _aunt_? And you didn't _tell_ me? You didn't say a word? You—"

Chewie, likewise, launched into a tirade of growls and barks at Jacen. Why hadn't he told anyone? Didn't he think that they all cared, that they all wanted to know these things, that—

"We couldn't tell anyone!" Jacen said, flinging up his arms. "We still can't! I've been trying to keep you away from her for exactly this reason!"

"I do not want anyone to find out," Tenel Ka added. "It's far too dangerous." She turned to Leia. "I am truly sorry. I can imagine—I did not like keeping this a secret. But it's necessary. You know what the Hapan court is like."

Of course. Intrigues, assassinations, plots, schemes… the royal heir to the throne would be a prime target, especially as a young child. Unless it weren't entirely clear who her father was, unless Tenel Ka was using that to string them all along—which, knowing her, was exactly what she'd been doing.

"I do," Leia said. She lowered Allana to the floor. "I didn't mean to—I just knew."

"That's why Jacen was so reluctant to ask you for help," Tenel Ka said. A faint smile appeared on her lips. "Mother's intuition is not to be underestimated. And the less people knew, the better."

"Who did know?" Jaina demanded.

"Jacen and I," Tenel Ka replied. "And Allana, as of this year."

"Did I do it wrong, Mommy?" Allana asked. "I didn't say—"

"No, sweetie, you didn't do anything," Tenel Ka assured her. "Your grandmother is just a very wise woman."

"Like you." Allana nodded sagely. "Mommy, why is it always mothers that are wise?"

They all burst out laughing at that, even Chewie, and the tension lifted. Han reached down to ruffle Allana's hair. "It's because some women are entirely too clever," he said. "You landed in the right family, honey."

"Why, am I entirely too clever too?"

"Far too clever." Jacen smiled down at his daughter—his _daughter_—and stepped towards Leia. "Mom, Dad—I'm sorry. Can you understand?"

Leia just nodded, and then she pulled him in for a hug. "Oh, my boy," she said. The tears were streaming from her eyes now, the kinds of tears that came from an overabundance of emotion. Her boy was a father. Father to a little girl, a real, beautiful little girl that she could hold in her arms and talk to.

The way that her mother had never been able to hold Jaina or the boys. The way that Han had likely never been held by his grandparents. This was the next generation, and she was here to see it, and touch it, and experience it.

"Congratulations, Junior," Han said, grinning widely, and patted his son on the back. "Now don't make your mother cry like that again."

"This stays a secret, right?" Jaina asked. "I mean—you're family, Tenel Ka. You and Allana both. None of us would endanger—"

"Yes," Tenel Ka said. "I want it to stay a secret. And I do trust you. I just—she's my daughter, I wanted absolutely no risks."

"I apologise," Jag spoke up, "it seems that I'm gaining the Solo talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. But I promise you, on my family's honour, that I won't betray your secret either."

Chewie let out a roar. Allana was part of Han's family, and therefore part of his family. He'd protect her to the end. Leia knew the nature of Wookiee promises. Chewie would die before he shared what he knew, or let any harm come to Allana.

Tenel Ka, through her long-time friendship with Lowie, understood. "Thank you, Chewbacca. And thank you, Jagged."

Anakin had remained silent all this time, but now he burst out, "I can't believe you've got a kid, Jace!"

Jaina grinned at him. "Uncle Anakin."

Anakin frowned, and shook a finger at Allana. "Don't you dare call me Uncle. Sith, I feel old."

Allana giggled. "You're not old. Are you really my uncle?"

"Yes," Anakin said. "Yes, I'm Jacen's brother."

"And I'm his sister," Jaina added. "So I'm your aunt. You're collecting quite a family today."

Allana looked up at them, suddenly concerned. "Is that okay?" She turned to her mother and lowered her voice. "Can I do that?"

Tenel Ka lifted her up and smiled. "It's fine. This is your family, and I suspect that they're all quite happy to have you along."

"Very happy," Leia agreed. She couldn't seem to stop smiling. She and Han had rebuilt their lives from nothing after the rebellion, with no family to speak of aside from Luke, and to see their family grow in this way was the greatest feeling in the world. She could give her children what she had missed since the death of Breha Organa. She could give Allana what her kids had never had.

Allana beamed. "And I have a grandfather who's got a real live space ship!"

"Live in the same way as a time bomb," Jag muttered.

Han shot him a dark look before sweeping Allana up off the floor and into his arms. "Finally, someone who appreciates the _Falcon_ for the beauty that she is," he said. He looked over at Leia, teasing, "I knew that not all princesses were so blind."

"I'm not blind," Allana said. "If Grandma's a princess, are you a prince, Grandpa?"

Jaina burst into giggles. "_Grandpa_!"

Han glared at her. "That Imperial's a bad influence on you," he said, "and you on him. Maybe I'll just throw you both out at the next stop."

"You could lock us in the 'fresher," Jaina suggested with an innocent smile. Jag ran a hand over his eyes and gave her a look that was equal parts incredulous, embarrassed, and amused.

Anakin groaned. "Please, I'm uncle enough for one day, don't you start."

"Kids!" Han exclaimed. Then he turned back to Allana. "I'm not a prince at all. I'm a scoundrel."

"What's a scoundrel?"

Han grinned. "A guy that princesses like."

Allana mirrored his grin. "Is Daddy a scoundrel?"

"No," Jacen said.

"Yes," Jaina and Tenel Ka said, in unison.

"Seriously, what is it with this family and royalty?" Jag asked Jaina. "Tell me you're not planning on marrying a prince."

Jaina smiled sweetly. "Of course not. My ambitions are higher than that. I want a king, at least. Or an emperor. Maybe a god…"

"Emperor?" Jag raised his eyebrows. "I'd like to see that. More to the point, I'd like to see your father's face when you break the news to him. Her Imperial Highness Jaina Solo."

Jaina just grinned as Han shot them another glare.

Anakin laughed. "You've got your work cut out for you, Jag," he quipped. "You've got the Imperial part…"

"…now comes the Highness?" Jacen finished. "Stop endorsing spice around my daughter, you."

"I'm her uncle, I'm meant to be a bad influence," Anakin shot back, grinning.

"Uncle Luke hasn't been a bad influence," Jaina said. "That was Dad. Wait, actually. Can we tell Uncle Luke? He'd be so thrilled!"

"I trust Master Skywalker unconditionally," Tenel Ka replied. "I—I don't think it would be fair to keep it from him now."

"And Allana's going to train as a Jedi in a few years, anyway," Jacen added. He was smiling now, looking happy as he could possibly be, and Leia realised that he'd been nervous about Tenel Ka's reaction earlier. She couldn't quite tell what their status was, either; neither of them had ever been much for commitment. But love, that was something else. Especially with Jacen, who'd never been terribly bothered about expectations and rules and formulae.

"Besides, I think he will pick up on it now," Tenel Ka finished.

"Definitely," Han said. "Leia's glowing like a supernova."

He was right, and she didn't care. She was as happy as she could possibly be, too. She beamed at Tenel Ka. "I think we ought to celebrate. We might even have some drinks—" Anakin and Jaina nodded and Han glared at them "—and I'm pretty sure that everyone's hungry by now."

"Yes," Anakin replied immediately. "Yes, yes, yes."

"Yes, yes, yes," Allana sang, and bounced up and down in Han's arms.

"Go easy on an old man, sweetie," Han said. "Here, why don't you jump around on your Dad for a while."

Allana giggled and obliged, still bouncing. "Yes, yes, yes! Daddy, what's spice?"

"Something you put in food to make it taste good," Jacen said quickly. "Like salt, and pepper, you know?"

"Are you a cook, Daddy?" Allana asked.

"Yes," Jacen said. "I'm a fearsome cook who can make sandwiches, and omelettes, and, oh, sandwiches, and more omelettes."

"And occasionally, burnt kitchen," Anakin added.

"Can we make burnt kitchen now?" Allana asked.

"No, and especially not on your grandpa's ship," Jacen said. "Remember that."

Allana nodded as sincerely as the twins had nodded at her age whenever Han recounted a "good prank to pull" and then told them not to do it. Anakin grinned. Han looked half-delighted, half-apprehensive. Tenel Ka shook her head. Jacen looked resigned. And Leia laughed and hoped that wherever the grandparents of her own children were, they were somehow getting this. Nothing had been missing before now, but somehow, regardless, her world felt more complete.


	5. Part 5: Tricks

**Part 5: Tricks**

Jaina and Jag volunteered for kitchen duty, earning a grateful look from Leia and a warning from Han—"Don't get any funny ideas, Fel. I still out-scoundrel you any day, don't think you can be sneaky on my ship!"—and left the others to continue the reunion.

"I can't believe him," Jaina commented as she looked through the galley's food supplies. The revelation was still sinking its way into her brain. Jacen as a father was just too much to take in all in one go. And Tenel Ka… yes, they'd always been close, and Jacen had had a crush on her from the minute he'd laid eyes on her, but that had been years ago. "I just can't believe it," she repeated. "Why didn't I know?"

"I'd say he took a lot of care to prevent exactly that," Jag said.

"We always told each other everything," Jaina said. "Well, most of the time we didn't need to, but still."

He arched an eyebrow. "Everything?"

She caught his drift and rolled her eyes. "Not necessarily in any great detail. I don't have to know what's going on with him all the time, either. If I get a feeling that I'd rather not know, I withdraw."

"Ah." He frowned at the packages that she was taking out of the cupboard. "What are we making here?"

"Everything," Jaina said. "Well, a bit of everything. There isn't enough of any one meal to go around." Her mother had put Anakin in charge of the food this time. A questionable move, to say the least. Anakin liked simple solutions to the food problem, nothing that involved too much effort or vitamins. Jaina sighed. At least making dinner wouldn't be difficult.

"Mix-'n-match dinner?" Jag asked.

"Mom says the dinner should suit the company," Jaina said, "so yes. It's perfect."

He laughed. "Excellent point."

"I always thought Anakin was the sneaky one," Jaina said, getting back to the previous subject. "Always. And then that guy turns up, like, hey Jaina, guess what, you're an aunt now. I didn't even know he and Tenel Ka were together!"

"Define 'together'," Jag said wryly. He had a point. They didn't seem like an official couple. Well, of course not, Jaina thought, irritation flooding her mind. If they were an official couple, she'd have known about it.

And it was beside the point, anyway, so she narrowed her eyes at Jag and said, "You and me over the past seven years."

He nodded, conceding that. Their relationship hadn't exactly been consistent. And when it had been, they hadn't been terribly official about it either. Neither of them was one to parade, and while Jaina could be called a lot of things, overly romantic wasn't one of them. Tokens and flowers meant nothing next to the ability to guess her reactions and stay on her wing. And she'd swap a candle-lit dinner for a good challenge in the flight simulator any day.

"I think Jacen handled this as best he possibly could," Jag said carefully. His reaction—diplomatic, yet caring—gave her pause. Was she really that upset about this? "Given the situation."

"I know." Jaina sighed. Yes, it did bother her. And she hadn't even realised. Jag just had a way of leading a conversations to the point where she realised how she felt about something. Even when he didn't know how she felt. It was uncanny, but useful. "It's just—I can't believe he kept it from me. He's never kept anything from me before."

Jag nodded. "And now you're wondering how he managed."

She thought about it. "Yes." That really was the crux of it. Never mind that she'd missed Allana's first four years, never mind that he hadn't trusted them with it, she could understand all of that. What she couldn't understand was that he'd been able to keep it from her.

"Parents go to enormous lengths for their kids," Jag pointed out. "Well, good parents, anyway."

She didn't reply to that. It didn't explain anything. It wasn't that simple, or shouldn't be. But then, she could hardly expect Jag to come up with an explanation here. He had neither a twin, nor Force potential. It was easy to forget that sometimes, owing to his keen understanding of most everything.

"And I think you'll make a good aunt, by the way," he offered.

It was the right thing to say. No "Are you upset", no worrying, just a quiet sort of encouragement that she could pass off as a mere continuation of their conversation if she didn't want it. She wasn't going to figure this out with him, anyway. He wasn't the man she needed to talk to about it.

So she accepted the comment and smiled at him. "You don't know that. Anakin had a point about being a bad influence. We were terrors."

"That just means you'll be onto her tricks," Jag said. "That's the mark of a good babysitter."

"Oh, you mean like Dad's onto your tricks." She was teasing now, and he knew it, but of course he had to defend himself. It was classic, really. They always seemed to drag things into mock-arguments once the issue had been solved. Or shunted aside. They both knew better than to keep trying to help once the other had decided that they could solve the issue better alone. That was the thing about a wingman. They understood you, sometimes better than you understood yourself, and they trusted you to estimate your own ability to handle something.

Jag held up a finger. "Your father is not my babysitter," he said. "And aside from that, I don't get up to any tricks. He's projecting."

Jaina laughed. "You think Allana's the type?"

Jag shrugged. "With her parents, it's absolutely impossible to tell. I can't imagine Tenel Ka being particularly mischievous as a child. Your brother is a different story." After a short pause, he added, "She's a sweet kid, though. And she didn't complain or whine once while I was getting her out of there."

"I'm chalking that one up to Tenel Ka," Jaina said. She handed Jag a jar—she was well capable of opening it herself, but sometimes it was just better to let the man do it. "Open."

He took it. "Yes, mistress."

She glared at him. He showed her a rare, if fractional, grin. "Sorry, I meant 'yes, your Imperial Highness'." The jar lid came off with a dull pop.

"You're begging to have the hot sauce poured down your throat," Jaina said. "You know I will."

"I like hot sauce," Jag said. "You don't scare me."

Jaina shook her head. "You used to be such a nice man, what happened to you?"

His grin widened. "I met this girl," he said. "A real scoundrel's daughter, actually. I think she's a bad influence."

Jaina made a commiserating face. "This ship is chock full of bad influences," she said. "Especially this girl of yours."

"Yeah." He set down the bowl and turned towards her, leaning across the galley. "She keeps dragging me along on missions without any sort of plan."

Jaina leaned back against the counter and looked up at him. "That's slander. We had a plan."

"I stand corrected," Jag said. "She lures me into missions with the promise of a plan, which she then abandons in favour of a crazier one."

She grinned. "Better." Then she adopted a serious expression again. "She sounds terrible."

"Terrible," he agreed. With that, he leaned closer, and she felt her lips curve into a faint smile as his touched them. It was a hesitant kiss, the kind he always gave her when he wasn't quite sure how much closeness she could take right now, but wanted to offer anyway. She kissed him back, and then she wrapped an arm around his neck to pull him closer, deepening the kiss and feeling the world retreat conveniently into the background. There weren't many things that could make her forget—or at least stop caring about—where she was, but Jag Fel was one of them.

When they broke apart, he chuckled. "Maybe your father has a point."

"Shh," Jaina said, grinning. "Don't tell him." She let out a determined breath. "C'mon. Food time, Jag, concentrate."

"Right."

Jaina tore open a package of some form of pasta and skimmed the instructions, then she poured it into a pan and set it to boil. Between the various ready-meals and different modes of preparing them, it wasn't hard to concentrate on the food and forget Jacen for a bit.

Stupid laser-brained idiot that he was.

***

Chewie challenged Anakin to a game of dejarik, which Anakin agreed to straightaway. Leia sat beside him on the couch, holding Allana on her lap. The little girl was engrossed in the game, busy making up stories that got increasingly tragic and violent as the game progressed.

"And then the Savrip said "aaaah, you killed my friend!" and jumped forward and threw Grimtaash to the floor, and his head was all crunched up and icky, and…"

"That's not a very happy story," Leia said.

His mother looked radiantly happy now. Anakin didn't sense even a trace of resentment over the fact that Jacen hadn't confided in his family. Maybe it was a mother thing. She seemed to understand.

He didn't feel any resentment himself, mainly because he figured that it wouldn't have made much difference to him before now. Allana was just coming to an age where she was useful as a kid. All they'd missed were the constant changing, and teething, and crying that babies did in his experience. Ben hadn't been much use until he was three. Cute, maybe, but he was sure that there would be holos.

"It's not a happy game," Allana said. "That's not the _point_. But Anakin's guys are gonna lose."

Chewie chuffed with laughter at that, looking smug as only a confident Wookiee could, and Anakin realised that the little girl might be right. He was usually good at dejarik, but his concentration was all over the place. He'd always been empathetic, and there was a lot of emotion around right now. Along with that _something _nagging at the back of his mind. He tried to ignore that. _Not now_.

Of course, this particular source of nagging wasn't one to be ignored. The rough verbal equivalent of the response went something like _oh yes, now_, coming clear and true from the place in his mind that meant Tahiri. He suppressed a sigh. He'd thought that he'd done a good job at shielding his surprise and subsequent delight from her, but apparently, she was getting something.

And now, in true Tahiri fashion, she wanted to know what was going on.

But that didn't mean he had to tell her. He sent his Kintan Strider across the board, while Allana turned it into a brave hero with a vengeance quest and, for reasons best known to her, a secret invisible bag of rancor teeth.

"Anakin's losing to Chewie?" Han asked. He was sitting in his usual seat at the control station in the hold, swivelling the chair idly. "That's a first."

Chewie's vehement barking protested that no, it certainly wasn't a first, but Han shook his head. "That doesn't count," he said. "He was only eight."

Chewie insisted.

"He was ill, too," Jacen spoke up. He was leaning against the wall, Tenel Ka on the bench beside him, looking entirely content. "He didn't even know what was going on. He thought I was Jaina!"

Anakin grinned. "Only because you looked like a girl."

Jacen opened his mouth to protest, but Allana got there first. "I told Daddy to cut his hair!" she crowed. "I did! And now he looks like a boy again!"

Anakin joined in the laughter. Leia bounced Allana on her lap and smiled. "It's a good thing he's got you to tell him these things," she said.

Jaina and Jag eventually brought out the food, and Anakin got up to give them a hand. It was a strange sort of dinner, almost a buffet, only with ready-meals. He was fine with that, even though his mother had sworn that she was never leaving him in charge of stocking the [i]Falcon[/i] with food before a mission ever again.

No amount of banter and ignoring was getting rid of the nagging in his head, though. Tahiri had a lot of good qualities, and her stubbornness might be counted among them, except that it was very inconvenient when it was working against him.

Anakin shovelled more food into his mouth, ignoring the look that Leia was giving him. He was pretty sure that he didn't want to talk to his girlfriend about this, but he was going to have to offer some sort of explanation. And he couldn't lie to her, because everyone had trouble lying to Tahiri and being believed, and that went double for Anakin.

He concentrated on reassurance. It wasn't difficult to get across the message that he would explain later, but it was almost impossible to get her to accept it. But she wasn't the only stubborn one in their relationship, and when it came down to it, he was the one controlling this situation because he was the one in charge of the information. Eventually, she backed off, still impatient, but resigned to wait.

That was okay. Tahiri was always impatient.

"Anakin?" Leia asked eventually. "What's the matter?"

"Nothing, why?"

His displays of innocence rarely fooled her. "You're quiet."

"I'm eating," he pointed out.

"I don't know if what you're doing qualifies as eating," Jaina said. "More like stuffing yourself."

There was an edge to her comment that Anakin picked up on right away. She was tense. Not angry, at least not by Jaina standards, but definitely tense.

"It's Tahiri," Anakin said. "She wants to know what's going on."

Jaina sighed. "Figures. Can't you keep a damper on this stuff, Anakin?"

"I tried!" he exclaimed. "It's like hiding something from myself, it's not exactly easy! It's like telling yourself not to think of a purple bantha!"

Jaina shot Jacen a dirty look at that. Anakin winced. His sister [i]was[/i] harbouring resentment, not at the fact of Jacen's secret, but at the fact that he'd been so good at shielding it from her.

But then, Jaina and Jacen's bond wasn't quite the same as the one he shared with Tahiri. And no one he knew could demand as impatiently as Tahiri.

"I'll talk to her when I see her," he said. He looked at Tenel Ka. "Don't worry."

She showed him a small smile. "I expected that it would snowball from here. It's hard to keep secrets from family. Especially if they're Jedi."

Jaina stood abruptly. "I'm going to go look at those files we pulled," she said. "Might as well make a start."

"They're not that important, you can—" Leia began, but Jaina was gone before she could finish the sentence.

Anakin looked over at Jacen, who'd clearly got the message, as well.

"She's really mad, isn't she," Jacen said quietly.

"I don't think mad is the right word," Anakin said. "If she was mad, we'd all be hiding from the storm."

"Point," Jacen said. "Wishful thinking, I guess. Mad is straightforward."

"She's disappointed," Leia said. "Hurt, I think."

Han was looking around at his family, looking a bit lost and vaguely defensive. He was protective of all of his kids, but Jaina especially. It was understandable, given that she was the girl, and as far as Anakin was concerned it was also a good thing. It meant less overprotection towards him.

But Han also lacked the insight that the Force gave to the rest of him, and while he usually understood Jaina very well, he couldn't understand this. Not when she was upset about Jedi stuff.

Jacen shook his head. "I'd prefer it if she'd yell at me."

Jag looked over at him. "Maybe you should talk to her."

"I don't know if that's such a great idea right now," Jacen said.

"I don't think you can ignore it until she's back to normal," Jag countered. "She's hurt. She's not going to let it go. Maybe she'll yell at you, but then you'll be able to sort it out."

It was impressive, really. Jaina wasn't the easiest person to understand as it was, and here was Jag, who couldn't even use the Force to help him, getting it right almost every time.

Jacen sighed. "I don't want to fight with her."

"Sometimes you need to," Tenel Ka said. "You just said you'd prefer it if she'd yell at you. So go make her do that, if you have to."

"Yeah," Jacen said. He looked uncomfortable. "I just don't think—"

"Oh, for—" Han began, then interrupted himself with a sidelong glance at Allana, who was sitting on Chewie's lap, not paying attention to the adults as the Wookiee rocked her just as he'd done with Anakin, years ago.

Han levelled a finger at Jacen. Anakin almost smiled. His father might not understand the details, but he knew how to make the twins sort them out. "Go talk to your sister."

"But—"

"You're working this out," Han insisted. "I'm not having the two of you dancing around each other on my ship for the rest of this trip. Go. She's your sister, not your enemy."

Jacen sighed and got up. "Fine."

Han made a face and shook his head. "Even when your kids have kids, you still have to boss them around."

Jag raised his eyebrows. "At least you're still _able_ to boss them around."

"Sometimes, kid," Han said with melodramatic sigh. "Sometimes."

Anakin decided to keep his mouth shut on the subject. It wasn't wise to challenge his father. Especially not with such a big audience.

***

Jaina had just inserted the datacard into the pilot's control station and was calling up the first file when Jacen approached. He stopped in the doorway, clearly unsure of whether to enter or leave her be.

"Oh, don't be so insecure," she snapped. "Sit."

He dropped into the oversized co-pilot's chair. "Hey. Look, I'm sorry."

She already knew that, but she inclined her head. "Yeah. I get it. You were keeping her safe."

"For what it's worth, I wanted to tell you. You and Mom more than anyone else."

She looked over at him. "I get it, Jace. Mom and Dad sent us to that backwater planet when we were little, you just kept her presence a secret. Given the choice, I'd say yours was actually better."

"But you're still not happy about it." It was a statement, not a question.

"How'd you do it?" she asked. Might as well get to the point. Dancing around the topic with him just felt like a farce. "I can never keep anything from you. Anakin couldn't even keep Tahiri from noticing his surprise earlier."

"That's what's bugging you?" he asked.

"Yes," she said, "that's what's bugging me, Jacen! I should've felt something, shouldn't I? I should've been able to tell something was going on. Have we—was I so wrapped up in myself or something?"

He understood it then. "No. No, it's not like that. You couldn't have known." He hesitated. "I can show you what I did, if you want."

She nodded, because it was important. He reached out and took her hand. "Come with me," he said.

She closed her eyes when he did, and concentrated on the spot in her mind that meant Jacen. He answered right away, pulling her closer, and after that it became difficult to distinguish where she ended and he began. She hadn't forgotten what it was like—she never would—but it had been a while since they'd been so close. Ever since the revelation earlier, she'd been worried that they'd drifted apart too much for this.

There was no hiding in here, so he could feel all of that from her even though she'd never have admitted it out loud. You didn't say this kind of thing to people. You didn't admit that you were scared of drifting away from them. Not that you were, usually.

On the other hand, she could feel Jacen's reassurance now, along with the powerful affection that he held for his daughter. Allana literally meant the world to him.

He led her back into his mind, to the place where he controlled his emotions, and showed her what he'd done. He'd stashed away his knowledge of Allana in the furthest recess of that place, stashed and shielded it so completely that at first, he'd almost forgotten it himself. Even now, Jaina could barely tell that it was there; he'd regained the control that he'd lost earlier, when Leia's intuition had foiled his best efforts. If he hadn't invited her in here, she knew, she'd never have managed to get past all of those defences. She wouldn't even have known to look for it at all. Even if she'd been as good at finding things as Zekk, she wouldn't have found this. Zekk couldn't find things if he didn't know they existed, either. And it wasn't as if you could stumble across this by accident.

She looked at him afterwards. "I didn't know you could do that."

He shrugged, tried a smile. "Neither did I. But I had to. So I did."

"Uncle Luke couldn't get in there if he tried, could he."

He shook his head, looking a little bit proud. "I doubt it."

Jaina leaned back in her chair. It was stupid, but she felt much better. Knowing that Jacen's defences really were that good, that it wasn't because she'd failed to notice, that she hadn't lost a piece of him along the way somewhere.

"I guess it was a shock," Jacen said quietly. "I know how I'd feel if I suddenly found out that you've been hiding something from me for four years, and I never suspected."

Jaina nodded. "Yeah." She cut him off before he could try to explain it again. "Don't look so contrite. I told you already, I get it.

"Fine," he said. Offered the beginnings of a grin. "I'm not sorry."

"You shouldn't be," she told him. "You protected your kid. You shouldn't be sorry for that at all."

"I'm not," he said.

"She's a cute one, by the way," Jaina said. "I'm glad that Tenel Ka's genes defeated yours in that regard."

The grin broke across his features. "Me too. And not particularly surprised, either. She's determined."

"Clearly." She grinned back, and then she got out of her seat. "Come on, let's stop moping in the cockpit like a pair of losers."

When they got back to the main hold, Allana hopped off Chewbacca's lap and bounced towards them, brandishing a datapad. Jaina recognised it as one that they'd played with as kids. "Daddy, look!" the girl said happily. "Look what Chewie showed me. Guess what this is?"

Jacen hunkered down and had a look, but she answered before he could say anything.

"It's a rancor," Allana said in an important voice. "Well, a picture of one, I mean. Have you ever seen a rancor, Daddy?"

"Yeah," Jacen said. "A few times, actually."

"Are they really big?"

"Yep, really, really big," Jacen said. "A lot of people are scared of them."

"I'm not scared of them," Allana declared. "I like them. Can you keep them as a pet?"

Jaina burst out laughing. "I think after that comment, Jace, I'd have figured it out no matter what you tried."

Jacen grinned up at her, then looked back at Allana. "Yes, but they're a bit big for you, princess," he said. "Why don't we wait a few years with that one."

"Okay," Allana said. "Daddy?"

"Yes?"

She lowered her voice to a whisper. "Will you ask Grandpa if I can see the hyperspace now?"

Jacen raised one eyebrow. "Why don't you ask him yourself?"

Allana wiggled, clearly shy now. "But what if he says no?"

"Oh, I think he's more likely to say yes if you ask him," Jacen said.

Allana took Jacen's hand and pressed closer to him, looking over at Han. "Can I go to the cockpit with you, Grandpa?" she asked hesitantly.

Han grinned at her. "Sure thing, sweetie. But you gotta be good, all right? No messing with the controls."

"No messing with the controls," Allana repeated, her voice solemn.

Jaina grinned. It was like going back in time and listening to herself. Or Anakin. Or more recently, her cousin Ben.

"Mommy, are you coming with me?" Allana asked, but Tenel Ka only gave her an encouraging smile.

"I think your grandfather can show you around much better," she said. "Maybe Jaina would like to come along."

Allana eyed Jaina at that, and Jaina realised that between her worry and disappointment, she'd hardly spoken to the child at all. She'd never been particularly good with kids, but since Ben's arrival, she'd learned a thing or two.

She smiled down at Allana. "Why don't we do that? I can tell you all sorts of stories about the trouble your daddy got into when he was a boy."

Allana giggled.

"One time, he let his crystal snake run loose around the Jedi temple," Jaina added.

It was enough. The girl let go of Jacen's hand and reached for Jaina's instead. "What happened then?"

Jaina grinned as Jacen shook his head in resignation. Leia was smiling widely. Jag looked amused. And Han gave her a conspiratorial wink as he passed her and led the way to the cockpit.

"Well," Jaina said, following, "one of our friends was terrified of snakes, and somehow Jacen's got into the food hall when we were all having lunch…"

Allana kept hold of her hand and trotted along beside her, bouncing occasionally, as Jaina recounted the story. The resentment was gone entirely now, and even though Jaina doubted that they'd get to see much of the kid after this—the façade had still to be maintained, after all—she was glad that Allana had come into their lives. Her mother's presence glowed with happiness, her father radiated pride, and Jacen—through their twin bond, she felt his exasperation at her storytelling, and made sure that he could feel her glee in return.

Just because she understood him now didn't mean she couldn't have a bit of revenge. He was her brother, after all. And since he'd all but forced this "aunt" business on her, she might as well enjoy the perks.


End file.
